|
HMCS Rimouski (K121)
HMCS ''Rimouski'' was a Royal Canadian Navy which took part in convoy escort duties during the Second World War. She fought primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was named after Rimouski, Quebec. Background Flower-class corvettes like ''Rimouski'' serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes. The "corvette" designation was created by the French for classes of small warships; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period but discontinued its use in 1877. During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s, Winston Churchill reactivated the corvette class, needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity, in this case based on a whaling ship design. The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants. Corvettes commissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rimouski
Rimouski ( ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski is the site of Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), the Cégep de Rimouski (which includes the Institut maritime du Québec) and the Music Conservatory. It is also the home of some ocean sciences research centres ( see below). History The city was founded by Sir René Lepage de Ste-Claire in 1696. Originally from Ouanne in the Burgundy region, he exchanged property he owned on the Île d'Orléans with Augustin Rouer de la Cardonnière for the Seigneurie of Rimouski, which extended along the St. Lawrence River from the Hâtée River at Le Bic to the Métis River. De la Cardonnière had been the owner of Rimouski since 1688, but had never lived there. René Lepage moved his family to Rimouski, where it held the seigneurie until 1790, when it was sold to the Quebec City businessman Joseph Drapeau. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fo'c'sle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " before the mast" which denotes anything related to ordinary sailors, as opposed to a ship's officers. History and design In medieval shipbuilding, a ship of war was usually equipped with a tall, multi-deck castle-like structure in the bow of the ship. It served as a platform for archers to shoot down on enemy ships, or as a defensive stronghold if the ship were boarded. A similar but usually much larger structure, called the aftcastle, was at the aft end of the ship, often stretching all the way from the main mast to the stern. Having such tall upper works on the ship was detrimental to sailing performance. As cannons were introduced and gunfire replaced boarding as the primary means of naval combat during the 16th century, the medieval ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bowmanville, Ontario
Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Ontario, Clarington, Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along Highway 2 (Ontario), Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a town in 1858, but later incorporated with the neighbouring townships of Clarke and Darlington in 1974 forming the Town of Newcastle, which was renamed in 1994 to the Municipality of Clarington. Bowmanville is part of the Greater Toronto Area. History Settlers were attracted to the area by the farmland, and creeks for water mills. The lands which would later become Bowmanville were first purchased by John Burk, who began to clear the forest. Mills were built first on Barber's Creek (now called Bowmanville Creek), including one still standing, now called Vanstone's Mill, at the present-day intersection of King Street and Scugog St. More mills were built on nearby So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bowmanville POW Camp
The Bowmanville POW camp also known as ''Camp 30'' was a Canadian-run POW camp for German soldiers during World War II located in the community of Bowmanville, Ontario in Clarington, Ontario, Canada (2020 Lambs Road). In September 2013, the camp was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. In 1943, prisoners Otto Kretschmer and Wolfgang Heyda were the subject of an elaborate escape attempt named Operation Kiebitz. Early history The camp was built as the Bowmanville Boys Training School. Two of the early buildings were completed in 1927. The property taught boys until 1941, 14 years after it first opened as a school, when the government told the school to move to a new location so the area could be quickly turned into a prisoner of war (P.O.W) camp. Bowmanville Boys Training School was relocated within Bowmanville to "Rathskamoray" (currently the Lion's Centre), although most boys returned home. Canadian officials had barely seven months to turn the boys' school into a pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfgang Heyda
Wolfgang Heyda (14 November 1913 – 21 August 1947) was a German U-boat commander during World War II. War service Heyda entered the Navy in 1932, serving aboard the cruiser and studying at Mürwik Naval School, before joining the pocket battleship at the start of the war. From 26 November 1940 to 19 May 1941 Heyda commanded , part of the 21st U-boat Flotilla, for his U-boat commander training, then took command of on 21 June 1941, beginning his first war patrol on 11 November. Near Gibraltar Heyda's U-boat was involved in attacking convoy HG 76 which was heading to Liverpool. At dawn on 18 December ''U-434'' was sighted by the convoy's destroyers north of Madeira, in position and attacked with depth charges. ''U-434'' was forced to the surface and then rammed by the destroyer and sunk. Two members of ''U-434''s crew were killed and 42 were taken prisoner. Commander Frederic John Walker, , commander of the 36th Escort Group sank four U-boats on his first war patrol, inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Kretschmer
Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War. From September 1939 until his capture in March 1941 he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, among other awards. He earned the nickname "Silent Otto", both for his successful use of the " silent running" capability of U-boats and for his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols. After the war he served in the German Federal Navy, from which he retired in 1970 with the flag rank of commodore. Early life and career Kretschmer was born in Heidau near Neisse, then in the German Empire on 1 May 1912 to Friedrich Wilhelm Otto and Alice (née Herbig) Kretschmer. His father was a teacher at the local ''Volkschule'' (primary school), which Otto attended from 1918 to 1921. He then moved to a ''Realgymnasium'' ( secondary school). In the aftermath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the and the , of the , the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the grew rapidly during German naval rearmament in the 1930s. The 1919 treaty had limited the size of the German navy and prohibited the building of submarines. ships were deployed to the waters around Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) under the guise of enforcing non-intervention, but in reality supported the Nationalists against the Spanish Republicans. In January 1939, Plan Z, a massive shipbuilding program, was ordered, calling for surface naval parity with the British Royal Navy by 1944. When World War II broke out in September 1939, Plan Z was shelved in favour of a crash building program for submarines (U-boat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Kiebitz
Operation Kiebitz was a failed German operation during World War II to organize the escape of four skilled U-boat commanders from a Canadian prisoner of war camp in Bowmanville, Ontario. The subsequent counter operation by the Royal Canadian Navy, Operation ''Pointe Maisonnette'', became a key engagement in the Battle of the St. Lawrence and was also successful in thwarting the Germans' plan. Prisoner escape plan The plan was developed by the '' Kriegsmarine'' in 1942 and was to be executed in September 1943. Horst Elfe; captain of , Hans Ey; captain of , Otto Kretschmer; captain of , and Hans Joachim Knebel-Döberitz; executive officer of ''U-99'', would escape from Camp 30 in Bowmanville and make their way through eastern Canada to northern New Brunswick, where they would rendezvous with a U-boat off Pointe de Maisonnette on Chaleur Bay. Knebel-Döberitz was the former adjutant of Admiral Karl Dönitz and along with Kretschmer were thought to be the primary reason behind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Pointe Maisonnette
Operation Kiebitz was a failed German operation during World War II to organize the escape of four skilled U-boat commanders from a Canadian prisoner of war camp in Bowmanville, Ontario. The subsequent counter operation by the Royal Canadian Navy, Operation ''Pointe Maisonnette'', became a key engagement in the Battle of the St. Lawrence and was also successful in thwarting the Germans' plan. Prisoner escape plan The plan was developed by the ''Kriegsmarine'' in 1942 and was to be executed in September 1943. Horst Elfe; captain of , Hans Ey; captain of , Otto Kretschmer; captain of , and Hans Joachim Knebel-Döberitz; executive officer of ''U-99'', would escape from Camp 30 in Bowmanville and make their way through eastern Canada to northern New Brunswick, where they would rendezvous with a U-boat off Pointe de Maisonnette on Chaleur Bay. Knebel-Döberitz was the former adjutant of Admiral Karl Dönitz and along with Kretschmer were thought to be the primary reason behin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mid-Ocean Escort Force
Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) referred to the organisation of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and Newfoundland, and the British Isles. The allocation of United States, British, and Canadian escorts to these convoys reflected preferences of the United States upon their declaration of war, and the organisation persisted through the winter of 1942–43 despite withdrawal of United States ships from the escort groups. By the summer of 1943, United States Atlantic escorts were focused on the faster CU convoys and the UG convoys between Chesapeake Bay and the Mediterranean Sea; and only British and Canadian escorts remained on the HX, SC and ON convoys. Background On the basis of experience during World War I, the Admiralty instituted trade convoys in United Kingdom coastal waters from September 1939. Anti-submarine escorts were allocated on the basis of perceived threat. Early German Type II submarines from bases in Germany were unable to o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Local Escort Force
Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys from North American port cities to the Western Ocean Meeting Point (WOMP or WESTOMP) near Newfoundland where ships of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) assumed responsibility for safely delivering the convoys to the British Isles.Morison (1975) p. 319 Background On the basis of experience during World War I, the Admiralty instituted trade convoys in United Kingdom coastal waters from September 1939. Convoys gradually extended westward until HX 129 left Halifax, Nova Scotia on 27 May 1941 as the first convoy to receive escort for the entire trip from Canada. The American Neutrality Zone offered some protection in North American coastal waters until United States declaration of war in December 1941. Organization The Royal Canadian Navy organized the Halifax-based Western Local Escort Force in February 1942 as German U-boats began patrolling North American coast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.svg "Click for more on -> Kriegsmarine")
